Bread-Loving Cat

Scripture for Today: Proverbs 6:25-26a “Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes. For on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread…”

This is not our cat, Tiger, but it very well could be. We were always careful to close the kitchen door when any food was left out. Tiger was not very discriminating in his tastes and would try just about any “people food!” As long as it was forbidden, it was somehow worth the effort to climb up on the counters or table and brave our displeasure. Of course our cat, being French, was spoiled with the availability of baguette!

Our verse for today uses the image of a loaf of bread to describe the impoverished state of a man who visits a prostitute. He not only wastes his money on something that does not really satisfy, but he also cheapens what is meant to be beautiful within the commitment of marriage. In allowing himself to be captivated by lust, he impoverishes his very soul. What could be romantic, noble and satisfying is reduced to something as ordinary and common as a piece of bread.

The warning in this verse can also apply to what goes on in my heart and mind. Jesus puts the standard very high teaching that secret lust is as serious as actual sexual sin (Matt. 5:28). The standard is put so high in order to safeguard what is meant to be beautiful. Rather than think of God’s Law as restrictive, I see His way as being what is most satisfying. Sexual immorality impoverishes whereas following God’s plan enriches and deepens a relationship.

Lord, protect my heart and mind from cheapening what You mean to be rich and satisfying.